


runaway

by britishtwat



Series: avengers fluff stuff :) [7]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Elemental Magic, Gender Dysphoria, Homelessness, Light Angst, Multi, Mutant Powers, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Original Character(s), Protective Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britishtwat/pseuds/britishtwat
Summary: he felt the air's pulsing energy in time with his heartbeat, and he felt the familiar tugging in his gut as he leaped off the building.Ash has been living on the streets for three months now, because after all, he isn't a normal kid.where Natasha discovers a trans homeless mutant with elemental powers
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Original Male Character(s), Natasha Romanov/OC, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker/Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker/OC, Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Series: avengers fluff stuff :) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854238
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Ash

**Author's Note:**

> hi so this'll have multiple chapters I think, just more of Nat and Ash interacting, and Ash maybe meeting the avengers? we'll see how it goes!

Ash had been on the streets for three months now.  
maybe he should do something to celebrate four, he thought bitterly, elbow deep in a trash can on the street.  
scrounging for food had become second nature to the scruffy 14 year old.  
Ash had been booted around from carehome to carehome, never seeming to "fit", as their old social worker had put it, or rather the majority of the people in the homes were assholes that didn't seem to understand personal space.  
of course he couldn't be himself around the other kids, they were young and didn't understand.  
oh yeah. Ash was trans. there was also the small matter that he seemed to he able to manipulate the elements. not the periodic table crap, just the general air, fire, water and earth.  
he had learned the hard way that he couldn't risk anyone knowing, as one time he was practicing controlling fire, and the situation ended with him on the run, as the police searched for the kid that had burnt a crater into the local park. 

wrinkling his nose, ash took his hand out of the bin and wiped it on his denim jacket,one of the few possessions he was proud of. it was a scruffy thing, with rips and band patches.  
sitting on the curb, Ash sighed and rubbed his arms, the nightly chill beginning to set in.  
he ran a grubby hand through his dyed hair (Ash had found a twenty on the street and decided to treat himself to a new haircut for his birthday, shaved round the back with blue and green curly hair on top)  
and tugged his jacket more tightly round him.  
ever since he ran away from the fifteenth home he'd been in, Ash became accustomed to going without meals for days at a time, though luckily there were water fountains in Stark Tower lobby that were open for anyone. he just had to march in confidently, hope that no one would notice his dishevelled state, fill his bottle, and get out of there as quickly as he could.  
hoisting his black rucksack over his shoulder, he got to his feet and set off down the street.  
lost in his thoughts, he walked slowly, kicking cans across the pavement. it had been a long day.  
sometimes he just had days were he felt like everything was too much, and memories of his shitty past were all he could think about.  
he was so lost in his mind that he failed to spot the gang of men in front of him.  
he started, stumbling backwards with a yelp as four drunk middle aged men approached, all jeering and yelling at one another.  
shit. he tried his best to avoid drunkards at night, as due to his scrawny demeanor he was a target for a beating. he'd learned that on his second night sleeping in alleys.  
he tried to edge round them, hoping they were too drunk to fight.  
"what we got here, eh?" one of them sneered, tossing his empty beer bottle aside. it smashed on the pavement, scattering shards of glass.  
"I-I'm not looking for trouble, okay?" he stammered, internally cursing at his weak demeanour.  
the big burly blonde bloke on the left advanced, baring his yellow teeth. "you got 'ny money, eh kid?" he slurred.  
ash shook his head, and the man scowled. he swung at the boy, but Ash dodged, scrambling backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet. as the anger set in, so did the familiar tugging sensation in his gut.  
he really didn't want to resort to that. he couldn't risk being discovered. he had known enhanced kids that had been taken by Hydra, but glancing around at the empty street, he knew there'd be a small chance of anyone finding out about his... special talents.  
but it didn't look like he had a choice.  
backing away slowly, he clenched his fists and concentrated on feeling the energy around him. he tensed, and felt the energy well up, shaking the road slightly, the glass shards tinkling on the ground. ignoring the drunk men's yells, he focused on harnessing the power now swirling around him. he could feel it, though it was invisible. 

neither the young boy or the men noticed the dark figure watching the scene from afar. 

Ash thrust his hands out, and the wind flowed towards the men, blasting them away from him.  
allowing himself a small grin at the surge of power he'd controlled (it was fun, ngl),he sprinted past the men, dazed on the floor.  
thanks to the dire situations he was always facing on the streets, Ash had learnt to run for a long time. it hurt like a bitch with his makeshift shitty binder, but he would frequently be running from CPS or cops that thought he stole something (he never stole from anyone, he refused to)  
after running for ten minutes, he reached a little corner with a few trees.  
he slept in different spots around the city every couple of nights, to prevent people from tracking him.  
it was miserable on the streets , but Ash preferred being homeless than a test subject to scientists.  
Ash placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. After using his powers, he always had adrenaline surging through him, making him slightly giddy.  
grinning, he had just grabbed a branch and hoisted himself up, when he heard a voice behind him.  
"uh, excuse me?"  
startled, he fell backwards out of the tree and spun around.  
a young woman in black clothes with short red hair was staring at him with an analytical sort of look.  
he stared back cautiously, and got prepared to harness the energy he could feel tingling in the night air.  
as if knowing what he was about to do, she smiled tentatively. "you don't need to be afraid, you know. I'm not going to hurt you"

he let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "what do you want?" he said, trying to disguise the anxiety in his voice.

he hated his voice. it was so femenine.

the woman raised her hands in mock surrender. "you just look like you need some help, kid. you're a runaway, right?"  
when she received no response from the boy, she took a careful step forwards onto the grass. "do you have any family I can call?" she said softly.  
he felt fear rise up in him. what if she called the cops? he couldn't get caught.  
he grabbed his bag from where it had fallen on the ground and took off running back down the alley, slightly winded from his fall from the tree.  
" kid! hey, wait!" he heard her yell behind him, but he didn't stop.  
Ash panicked as he heard footfalls behind him, and he glanced back to see the women hot on his tail.  
grunting with effort, he pulled on the feeling in his gut, and willed the air around him to propel him up on to a nearby ledge.  
landing heavily and noisily, he winced from the impact but jumped onto a dumpster.  
with the energy from the wind, he leapt up on to a rooftop and glanced below him.  
the woman had stopped running, and glared up at him with a sort of exasperated look on her fair features.  
"really?" she deadpanned. "I want to help you!"  
Ash sat down on the edge of the roof and put his head on his knees.  
"lady, I can't trust you. you'll just turn me in"  
the woman scoffed. "I have plenty of enhanced friends, kid. heard of the Scarlet Witch? Captain America?"  
Ash stared at her.  
sighing, the lady quirked a brow. "I'm the fucking Black Widow, kid."  
Ash continued to stare. what the hell? why was a fucking avenger chasing, no, even talking to him? he was nothing. he was just a pathetic little kid with stupid powers that he'd get hurt for.  
"are you serious?" he managed to choke out.  
the hero nodded. "you can call me Nat. and you are?"  
the wary teen said nothing, dangling his skinny legs over the side of the roof.  
Natasha noted his waryness, and sighed.  
"you want me to keep calling you 'kid', fine. so you can control the wind, huh?"  
she was trying to get him to open up, he realised. still , why was she? he was nothing!

he decided to leave, this was nothing but trouble, and if anyone else had seen his powers he had to get away before they could find him.  
Ash stood, and threw up a peace sign, before jogging back along the roof, ignoring Nat's protests behind.  
he felt the air's pulsing energy in time with his heartbeat, and he felt the familiar tugging in his gut as he leaped off the building.


	2. out of hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash uses his powers to aid the civilians of the city when Hydra agents attack, and meets Peter!   
> we see the avengers in action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lot more of avengers action in this one! hope u enjoy

it had been three days since Ash had evaded the mysterious Natasha Romanov, summoning the winds to carry him to a hideout in an abandoned building works, just north of Stark Tower.  
he hadn't showered in a month, and he wiped some of the mud off his jeans, grimacing.  
the hideout gave him a view of the city past SI, he could see central park in the distance amongst the clustered buildings.  
maybe he could catch some sleep before going out to scavenge, he thought, lying down on the concrete and tugging his denim jacket around him. 

an hour later, Ash woke with a jolt to the sounds of people screaming in the distance  
he stumbled to his feet and looked at the scene with bleary eyes  
the source of the screaming and commotion in the streets seemed to be several blasts and explosions on the other side of SI, and he ran a hand through his hair, debating.  
Ash shouldn't risk people seeing his powers, but there were people in danger, and from the looks of it, his mutation could help a lot.  
seeing a particularly large roar of flames erupt a few blocks away, he grimaced.

damn it.

hastily grabbing the ski mask he'd placed against the far wall of his little campout, he pulled it on and stripped off his jacket before taking a running jump off the ledge. 

"Cap! there's another one on your tail!"   
"thanks, Pietro" he grunted into the comms, dodging a blast from one of the HYDRA soldiers.  
the maximoff twins had intercepted a troop of HYDRA agents in armoured trucks, but had to call for backup due to the soldiers wreaking havoc on the streets of NY with the specialised weapons they were delivering.  
"Sam! on your left!" he yelled, jumping off the side of the truck and landing on the tarmac, rolling to his feet. he threw his shield at his winged comrade, who caught it and knocked down a line of agents who were planting some sort of bomb on the side of a smoking building.  
the pulse of Stark's repulsors went off behind him, and he turned round only to get blasted off the ground.  
scowling, he got to his feet and sprinted at the soldier in black kevlar holding a high-tech looking blaster.

"hey, kid! take care of trigger happy, won't ya?" Tony said, speeding towards Wanda, who had been caught in a blast.   
"yes, sir!" Peter responded with a grin despite the situation, this was his first proper mission with the avengers.  
"kid, don't call me sir, for fuck's sake"   
"LANGUAGE!"   
swinging towards the masked bastard who was unleashing torrents of bullets at the heroes with an ugly looking gun, Tony flew past overhead, carrying Clint towards Nat, who was fending off several blokes with blasters . Spidey landed and knocked the man over with a swift punch, sticking him to the ground with his webs with a "and stay down!"   
Karen, his AI, warned him that the amount of webfluid was at 30%, and Peter groaned. he'd meant to increase the wrist attachment's capacity in Tony's lab earlier that week.   
he was about to swing over to help Cap, when something caught his eye. 

Ash was filled with adrenaline, his powers coursing through him, he'd never used them so much before, and certainly not to this extent.   
his plan was to just help the civilians amongst the scene discreetly, hopefully not drawing the attention of the heroes or the cops, but the situation was growing dire as fire spread and explosions shook the streets.   
the mutant was currently standing on the roof of a diner, his hands making clenching movements in front of him as he controlled a huge swirl of water, streaming from several burst pipes and other sources nearby. he strained, the pulling in his gut increasing as he directed the liquid towards one of the many smouldering ruins across the streets.   
quickly dousing the flames, the teen lifted his mask briefly to wipe sweat from the exertion and the intense heat off his grubby face, unaware of a certain young hero watching him, slack-jawed.   
placing the mask back on, Ash summoned the winds and leapt into the air, letting the water splash loosely around the smoking ground.   
it was an odd sensation, being in control but not feeling like he was, as he was suspended in the air, being tugged towards to his destination.   
it was a bit like being in a blender, he thought, speeding towards a distant flaming building.  
he tried to ignore the anxiety rising up as he spotted Iron Man and Captain America a few blocks down, fending off the men causing the damage.   
landing with an oof! on the ashy street, he released the gusty air, which dispersed into nothing.   
shrill screams rang out shrilly down the road, and he sprinted towards them, ignorant to the young boy tailing him. 

several people were crying out for help, buried under a mountain of rubble of a half-collapsed building. Ash made a 'shoo' motion to the two boys trying to shift the stone, and they backed away.   
concentrating, the screams and the explosions faded away, and all he could feel was the pulling in his gut.   
reaching his hands out, he stared intently at the rubble, willing it to shift.   
the people inside cried with relief as the debris was lifted into the air, and they scrambled out from under it, one man carrying a woman who'd passed out.   
once they had all escaped, Ash let the bricks and stone fall to the ground. 

he wasn't done yet, though, as he heard a particularly loud blast, coupled with even more shrieks.   
thrusting an arm up, the wind surrounded him, air shifting, pulling him up and speeding him down to the commotion.   
shit, he thought, as he willed the winds to hold him motionless in the air. 

the scene wasn't pretty. 

an explosion had blown apart a huge chunk of the street, revealing the sewers below. there was a great deal more fire here, raging angrily up the buildings and at the coughing people stranded on the unstable street.   
his body tingled as he willed the winds to propel him downwards toward the huge cavernous rip in the street, where some people dangling helplessly from jutting debris above the sewers. throwing out a hand, he made a grabbing motion and gusts of air streamed, snatching up the screaming civilians and setting them down on the stable part of the street, away from the fire.   
this was going to take a toll.   
the winds set him down facing the fire, and knowing he couldn't waste any more water, he prepared to control the raging flames. 

fire was always harder than the others. 

clearing his mind, he focused, staring at the raging torrents of fire devastating the buildings. the screaming faded away, and his gut wrenched, causing him to gasp.   
he kept going, channeling the energy from the swirling flames, and willed them to die down.   
the fire put up a fight, pushing back against his power, but he screamed and pushed back.   
finally the roaring blaze began to weaken, and it dissipated into trails of smoke, fading into the air.   
gasping, Ash fell to the concrete, his clothes singed and smoking.   
his entire body ached, the adrenaline failing to disguise the pain of exertion.   
staggering to his feet, he put a hand up to his face, panicking when he felt no mask there. it must have fallen off when he was flying.   
Ash needed to leave, now.   
he backed away from the slightly improved scene, turning only to be faced with...   
Spiderman?? 

Peter stared at the mutant, eyes wide in amazement, and a little fear.   
the teen looked equally shocked, and even more scared, as he stood there in his ruined clothes.   
Pete had followed the teenager, swinging across the streets as the boy flew over to fix situations with his.. fucking AWESOME powers. he had alerted the team, and they had told him to be careful, that they would come and investigate once they had tackled their own situations. Natasha had sounded particularly eager to come and help, but Cap ordered her to remain at her post with Clint.   
"hi" Peter said, waving with his gloved hand  
the teen still stood staring at him. he looked cool, Peter thought, with dyed hair shaved round the back and slightly smouldering punky attire.   
Peter was about to ask if he was alright, as the boy had a dazed look about him, when the kid suddenly took off running, sprinting down the street.  
Peter yelped and ran after him.  
"uhhh, guys.. the dude with powers is doing a runner" he said into comms, panting.  
the mutant suddenly leapt up on to a parked car and jumped into the air, which started swirling around him.  
Peter cursed as the teen winked at him before being carried away by the winds.  
with a running jump, he vaulted off the side of a building before webbing and swinging between buildings, trying to keep up with the airborne boy, but he couldn't keep up  
"guys I lost him! " he yelled, letting himself drop to the ground.  
"it's fine, we'll find him later" Steve said.   
"good job everyone. Wanda's hurt, Tony, can you fly her back to base?"   
"aye aye cap'n" said Tony. Peter snorted.   
"uhhh, Clint's unconscious" said Nat.   
"I'll take Wanda, Stark can pick him up" Pietro exclaimed. 

that was close, Ash thought, as he willed the gust of air to set him down gently at the entrance to his hideyhole.  
pulling off his ruined shirt, Ash looked in dismay at his binder, it stank of smoke and it was singed at the edges.  
there wasn't much he could do about it, he'd made it himself in secret in one of his old foster homes, and nearly cried in happiness at how smooth his had chest looked.  
he removed his boots and dragged himself over to his bed (his jacket strewn on the ground), collapsing onto the floor.  
he was exhausted, his powers always took a toll on him,and even though he is filled with energy at the time, channeling the energy from the elements does take it out of him.  
being enhanced, Ash's crazy metabolism unfortunately meant he was severely underweight as he never got to eat the amount of food he was supposed to, so hunger was second nature. it didn't make it hurt any less, though, as he drifted off to sleep to pangs of pain in his shrunken stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe more peter/Ash? idk yet


	3. the pLAN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter, nat and clint plan to go see the homeless mutant!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy! :)) the next chapter will be longer lol

"Tasha!"  
Natasha snapped to attention, looking over at an exasperated Tony, who'd been calling her name several times.   
the group were deep in conversation about the boy with powers who had helped the city.   
"are you going to pay attention, triple agent?" he snarked.  
Nat smirked and nodded, shooting a "I'm fine" face over at a concerned Clint.  
she couldn't get the mysterious mutant out of her head. she hoped he was safe.  
he could be in a lot of danger even if he was normal, living rough like that.  
after the meeting she dragged Clint to her room and told him all about the kid.  
"how old do you think he was?" Clint asked, scratching his head  
"id say 16" came a voice from the corridor, and Peter poked his head into the room.  
"sorry i couldn't help overhearing.. quite literally with my enhanced senses" he said, grinning.  
Nat rolled her eyes fondly.  
"did he say anything to you" she asked, rubbing her eyes wearily.  
she knew it was odd to lose sleep over a kid she didn't even know but she worried for him.  
"nah" Peter said. "he winked, though"  
Clint raised an eyebrow.  
"maybe we could go see him, just us" she said, pacing.  
"what, behind Steve's back?" Clint asked.  
"we'll tell him, obviously, but I think it'd be better if a small group went, that way he won't feel overwhelmed"  
"we should go casual, too" piped up Peter.  
"make sure he doesn't feel threatened"  
"good idea, kid" said Clint, ruffling the boy's brown hair.  
Nat sat on her bed, grabbed her phone from the desk and started typing.  
"what you doing, Tash?" Peter asked  
"making a list on some things I wanna bring" she said, still typing furiously.  
"if he doesn't want to come with us, I mean"  
Peter smiled "that's cool"  
"I'm cooking dinner with wanda tonight, so I'll save some as leftovers for the kid" said Clint  
Natasha grinned up at them, her wavy red locks framing her face.  
she hoped this would work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! leave a comment of you have any reqs for interactions etc.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! if you have any preferences for the story, please comment them below :))


End file.
